My husband and I are planning to homeschool our daughter (who's only 2 right now). My fathers concern is how she would find work without a highschool diploma (he's assuming she wouldn't have a college degree at this point, i.e. going for a summer job or something). I understand his concern. Many homeschoolers don't like to get the GED for fear that their prospective employer might think that they dropped out of high school. Do any of you have any good info, statistics, links, etc... that would help me to persuade my father that homeschoolers can get employment opportunities just as easily as the rest of us? Thanks!

Work PermitsMost states have only appointed public school superintendents as the "issuing officer" for the work permit. Any homeschooler can go to his/her local school district to get a work permit in any state. Some private schools are issuing officers as well, and in some states a homeschooler can get the permit from the state (MI is one of those states). Most states do not have an exemption for students who graduate early.

1) Find out what the high school graduation requirements are for your state. You can get them from a variety of places online, or by contacting the counselor at your local high school.

2) Find out what additional courses you need for entrance to your college(s) of choice.

3) Do the coursework. If you can't handle the most difficult subjects, or can't afford the equipment (lab science...), online courses and your local community college are still available.

4) Take nationally standardized tests (AP, CLEP, or DSST exams) for as many of those courses as you can. For any courses you don't or can't take exams for, document your work and show how it matches similar courses offered by accredited schools / colleges (these often have syllabuses online that you can use as guidelines).

5) Bundle the whole thing together with your SAT / ACT scores, a writeup of your extracurriculars, etc. and serve to your college(s) of choice.

If you follow these guidelines, and do reasonably well, you shouldn't have any trouble getting into a good college. Colleges have learned to like homeschoolers, it's just a matter of providing them with sufficient proof that you've completed all the prereq material.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot that you were asking about jobs, but employers will accept a well-organized homeschool transcript just the same as a college will, and the transcript itself can be used to show how professional you are at putting together a presentation. The degree is really not that important to them, what they care about is that you've shown you can start and complete something that takes a fairly long time, and that you're not just one of the pack - you've homeschooled and been successful at it.

Sakmeht wrote:And the diploma would be recognized by employers as valid?

Because that sounds like the way I might go, as long as these companies don't charge TOO much. Do you know the name of some of these companies that I might check them out? Thanks!

Of course. The question on a job application would be "Did you graduate from high school?" or "How many years of education"? The answer to the first is "yes," the answer to the second is "12." It is unlikely you would have to prove anything to an employer; I've never heard of that in 25 years of homeschooling. Colleges will want transcripts or SAT scores or whatnot, but employers? Nah.

You will decide when your dc are ready to be graduated, and you will issue them a diploma, which will be as valid as any other.

My dad was a personnel manager for a major utility company in the east, so he of course did a ton of hiring and firing. He said back then he probably wouldn't have given a homeschoolers application a second look, but acknowledges that times have changed. (I've been educating him about hs). Anyway, he's looking at it from a couple perspectives and is one of those types that wants to make sure I'm looking at hs from all angles. And honestly, his questions simply get me researching hs all the more, so I can't say I'm annoyed by his questions! lol But this is good information to have.

If creating your own diploma will work, then I like that idea better. I'd like to see a diploma issued by a parent upheld as valid rather than having to get "official approval" which in my opinion should be un-necessary. I was thinking of sending him the book "You're going to do what?" by Laurajean Downs or "Home Schooling: The Right Choice" by Christopher J. Klicka. I actually have not read either of these books, but have heard them praised as excellent reads for doubting family members. Has anyone here read them?

I know this thread is a couple of weeks old, and that I am new here, but thought I would offer my experience.

I was homeschooled as a child. My mom created a really "professional" looking diploma with the help of a friend who wrote very "fancy" lettering and then just signed it as the principal.

I have never had any problems at all. I was accepted into a large univerity with no questions asked and had numerous jobs over the years. My diploma was just as good as my husband's (and his was a public school diploma).

I plan to issue my own children a diploma when the time comes. Like a previous poster said, just be prepaired to back it up with a well laid out transcript and there should never be any questions.